Preservation Chicago announced this year’s “Chicago 7” list of most endangered buildings in a press conference today at the Chicago Architecture Foundation. The list is intended to draw attention to the most significant threatened buildings in Chicago each year.

Released annually since 2003, the list has led to numerous hard-won preservation successes. Both St. Boniface church and the New York Life Building, included in the inaugural list and several others since, have recently been in the news after efforts to save them ultimately succeeded. Other listed buildings remain in limbo or have gone on to be demolished, but not without a fight.

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It all started when Frederick C. Robie purchased a 60 by 180-ft. lot at 5757 S. Woodlawn Ave. from Harold Goodman. This was the beginning of what would change the face of architecture in Chicago and beyond.

Fred and Lora Robie commissioned Frank Lloyd Wright to create a masterpiece. Mr. Robie and Mr. Wright admired each other and were both forward thinkers who weren’t afraid to push limits. Wright would later call the house he built for the Robie family as his best work.

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Found in many Chicago neighborhoods, the courtyard building is usually overlooked as a significant part in Chicago’s development history. But during the time in which most were constructed (1900-1930), these buildings provided the less wealthy a decent living space: plentiful interior space, abundant natural lighting, and cross ventilation, which helped keep air temperature low. Cross-ventilation was particularly important as air conditioning wasn’t yet in use.

Perhaps the grandest, or at least tallest, courtyard building in the city is Vista Homes in Hyde Park.

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